The Northern Territory is a federal territory on the Australian mainland. It lies to the north of the state of South Australia, with the states of Western Australia and Queensland to the west and east, respectively. The Timor Sea lies to the north of the territory. The capital is Darwin, where about half of the territory's 200,000 residents live.

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Government

Unlike the Australian states, the Northern Territory has no constitutional right to self-government. However, in 1978 the federal government delegated many of its powers to a territory government, headed by a chief minister. In 1998, a referendum on whether the territory ought to become a full state failed.

Geography

The north of the territory (where Darwin is located) is a tropical region of vast wetlands. The interior, where the major settlement is Alice Springs, is desert.

Political Alignment

The Liberal Party, who are actually Conservatives, were in power in the Northern Territory for 25 years until the 2005 state election, before resigning as Chief Minister on 26 November 2007. Perhaps if she had a little more knowledge in how to run a state government (along with the prerequisite faith in God) instead of being a spineless left wing hack she would have been able to hold her job, but that would mean she would have been a Conservative.

Alice SpringsAlice Springs (known as Mparntwe to it's traditional Aboriginal inhabitants) is a town in the Northern Territory, almost in the dead centre of Australia. The town is probably best known for it's proximity to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) approximately 300km to the south.